Fast forward a few decades and Donald Trump can easily be compared to Archie Bunker, but on much (MUCH) larger scale, and the effect of his words (and even more scary, his actions) are exponentially more dangerous than any TV character could have possibly been in the ‘70s, not only to the country but to the rest of the world– given the leadership role the United States plays in the global political and socio-economic arenas.

Donald Trump is a reality TV star and real estate tycoon who’s accountable to no one. He’s unapologetic, cocky, arrogant, racist, misogynistic and dangerously brash. He always gets his way and will trample and smash anyone who tries to stop him. Trump’s entertainment value is comparable to no one’s: he is incredibly fun to watch. Just like the train-wreck that was Howard Stern a few years ago, when the novelty of his reckless and bewildering words and behaviour were at its peak (something he largely capitalized on and was hardly ever seen in media types back then), so has Donald Trump made audiences be glued to the television by speaking his mind with a total and complete disregard of the consequences. Audiences love that, yes, but in their reality TV stars.

But there is (and there should be) a big difference and a profound distinction between entertainment and real life politics. Social media, with its ability to report events in real time as they unfold, is heavily blurring the two; something the general public may not necessarily be able to differentiate. “This is not political entertainment: it’s real life politics,” says Vox’s Editor-In-Chief Ezra Klein. When the story of Trump calling on the woman who called Ted Cruz a “pussy” at one of his rallies broke, says Klein, “…the media, we jumped all over it. It’s traffic, it’s clicks, it’s pace, it’s fun, it’s funny, it’s interesting. What was so unnerving about this wasn’t that Trump used a vulgar word; it was the demagog’s instinct for finding the angriest voice in the mob and amplifying it.” And this is what he does: he amplifies the loudest and angriest voices and he raises them and converts them into the lowest common denominator, giving them validation in the process– as ridiculous, illogical and downright absurd as they may be. And he does this all for his own personal gain, at the risk of what terrible consequences this may bring in the future. Worst yet, he may also be becoming a strong influence on a young generation who largely get their daily political and social issues intake from social media, and are now voicing their thoughts and ideas (as Tomi Lahren did in her “Beyonce” Blaze piece a few days ago), with little regard for consequence, and in this way deepening the already fragile division in society along the lines of race, sexuality and gender.

It’s not what a vote for Donald Trump says about Donald Trump: the world knows what he’s about and what can be expected of him. It’s what it says about the American people, and how handing him the presidency comes with the affirmation that his values, ideas and appalling behaviour are their own. Their vote is saying, “Here, we’re with you and we support what you say and what you do 100%.” The problem is, if past behaviour is any indication of what’s to come, his abhorrent views and his erratic behaviour will be impossible to control, and the consequences of his actions will be on those who elected him in the first place. Humanity’s memory is very short and we as people don’t seem to learn from the mistakes of the past. Sadly, this may be yet another example of this. I’m going to go further and state that this is exactly where we’re going. I cringe to think of what the future holds under a Trump administration, but see the inevitability of it, while watching it all unfold from our too-close-for-comfort Canadian eyes.